Beverage decanter construction



Sept. 10, 1968 J- P. HESTER BEVERAGE DECANTER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 2, 1966 [NYE/V701? Jomv P. He'sr52 flrroz/vss s.

Sept. 10, 1968 J. P. HESTER BEVERAGE DECANTER CONSTRUCTION t e e h S s t e e h S 2 6 6 9 o .0 c 0 D d1 8 1 F fvvE/vroe. JOHN R H55 752 Mu I M United States Patent 3,400,865 BEVERAGE DECANTER CONSTRUCTION John P. Hester, Lakewood, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Margaret A. Curtis, North Hollywood, Calif.

Filed Dec. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 598,651 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-475) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for attaching a handle and pouring spout assembly to the neck of a glass flask having an outwardly beaded upper edge. A split locking sleeve engages around the neck of the flask under the bead, and a collar forming a part of the handle and spout assembly is threadedly engaged over the locking sleeve.

Glass beverage decanters are almost universally employed today in restaurants for serving hot coffee because the level and nature of the contents can be seen at a glance, and also because glass is Well recognized as a particularly sanitary material. However, it has been found that when the pouring spout is also made of glass, there is a high incidence of breakage because of the pouring spout striking against the cup during pouring. Accordingly, most of such glass beverage decanters now employ a durable pouring spout that is made of stainless steel or plastic which is attached to the glass decanter at the neck thereof by a band clamp which also serves to secure the handle to the decanter. A somewhat intricate rubber gasket is also employed in effecting this connection at the neck of the decanter. While this conventional construction has been found to be generally satisfactory in service, it has the disadvantages of being unduly complicated and expensive, as well as being awkward and time-consuming to assemble. The present invention provides a much simpler means for attaching the handle and pouring spout to the glass flask, and permits assembly to be accomplished far more easily and rapidly.

According to the present invention, an externally threaded, expandable locking sleeve, preferably in the general form of a split 'ring, is engaged about the neck portion of the glass flask, immediately under the outwardly projecting annular bead or lip which is normally provided at the upper rim of the neck. The handle and pouring spout are both secured to an internally threaded annular collar as a unitary assembly, and this collar is engaged over the said lip or bead at the top of the flask neck and is threadedly connected to the locking sleeve to hold the locking sleeve in a constricted position under the bead or lip of the glass and thereby prevent upward shifting of the entire apparatus off of the neck. The collar has an inwardly extending annular flange above its threaded portion which provides a shoulder that overlies the top of the bead or lip on the collar, and a resilient sealing gasket may be interposed between this shoulder and the lip or head of the glass. The threaded engagement of the collar over the locking sleeve is advanced until the bead or lip at the top of the glass is clamped between the shoulder on the collar and the locking sleeve, thereby securely fastening the handle and spout assembly to the neck of the flask.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear during the course of the following part of this specification, wherein the details of construction and mode of operation of a preferred embodiment are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a beverage decanter embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical section taken on the line 2--2 in FIGURE 1.

3,400,865 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the bandle and spout assembly, gasket and split locking sleeve of FIGURES 1 and 2 axially aligned for assembly.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, enlarge-d, vertical section illustrating a modified form of the invention employing a metal spout.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section, with portions broken away, taken on the line 5-5 in FIG- URE 4.

Referring to the drawings, and at first to FIGURES 1 through 3 thereof, a beverage decanter 10 according to the present invention employs a conventional rounded glass jar or flask 12 having a generally cylindrical neck portion 14 with an out-turned annular head or lip 16 at its upper nm.

The handle and spout assembly 18 illustrated in FIG- URES 1 to 3 is a unitary molded structure made of any suitable plastic material, as for example, polypropylene. The handle and spout assembly 18 includes a handle portion 20 which is joined to a generally circular collar portion 22 that has coarse internal threads 24. A radially inwardly directed annular flange provides a shoulder 26 at the top of the collar portion 22, the shoulder 26 preferably being spaced somewhat upwardly from the threads 24 to provide adequate room immediately under the shoulder 26 for a sealing gasket to be described hereinafter. A pouring spout 28 flares upwardly from the inner edge of the shoulder 26. While the handle 20, collar 22 and pouring spout 28 have been illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3 as a single molded plastic structure, it is to be understood that one or more of these parts may, if desired, be separately formed and the parts then joined together by any conventional means to provide the handle and spout assembly 18.

A split locking sleeve 30 is provided for connecting the handle and spout assembly 18 to the flask 12. The sleeve 30 is preferably made of a suitable plastic material, as for example, polypropylene, which has a certain amount of resiliency, and preferably has only a single split. The locking sleeve 30 is provided with coarse external threads 32 which mate with the internal threads 24 of the collar 22, and has a contoured inner surface 34 which is generally complementary to the external surface of the neck portion 14 of the flask so as to snugly fit therein. The locking sleeve 30 also preferably includes a downwardly flaring skirt portion 36 adapted to engage against the body of the flask where it bulges outwardly immediately below the neck portion 14 thereof, and the sleeve 30 has a curved or beveled upper rim 38 which seats against the underside of the bead or lip 16 of the flask. In its position of repose the locking sleeve 30 is constricted so as to fit snugly within the annular concavity presented by the outer surface of the neck portion 14 of the flask, with the external threads 32 of the locking sleeve projecting radially outwardly further than the bead or lip 16 of the flask. Because of the resiliency of the material of the sleeve 30 the sleeve is readily engageable in this operative position about the neck portion 14 of the flask by merely snapping the sleeve 30 down over the bead or lip 16 at the top of the neck.

Although the preferred split locking sleeve 30 has only a single split therein as illustrated in the drawings and as described hereinabove, it is to be understood that if desired the locking sleeve may alternatively comprise a plurality of separate sleeve segments which, when assembled about the neck portion 14 of the flask, cooperate to provide a substantially complete sleeve.

Because of the generally rigid structure of the collar portion 22 of the device, and the likelihood that some irregularities will exist in the shape of the annular head or lip 16 at the upper rim of the neck of the flask, it is preferred to employ a resilient annular sealing gasket 40 3 between the shoulder 26 of the collar 22 and the bead or lip 16. This will provide a complete seal between the neck portion 14 of the flask and the pouring spout 28 so asrto eliminate the possibility of leakage during pouring. Assembly of the decanter is accomplished simply by first snapping the split locking sleeve 30 down onto the neck 14 of the flask over the bead of lip 16, either inserting the gasket 40 into the collar 22 under the shoulder 26 or placing the gasket 40 on top of the bead or lip 16 of the flask, and then engaging the collar 22 over the head or lip 16 and threadedly coupling the collar 22 with the Split locking sleeve 30. The coarse threads 24 and 32 permit this coupling to be rapidly accomplished by merely twisting the collar 22 through several turns relative to the locking sleeve 30. This assembly of the parts is greatly facilitated by the handle attached to the collar 22 and the skirt 36 attached to the locking sleeve 30. The skirt 36 may be held down against the body of the flask by one hand so as to hold the locking sleeve against rotation relative to the flask, and then the handle 20 gripped by the other hand and turned so as to threadedly couple the collar to the locking sleeve. If desired, gripping of the skirt 36 may be facilitated by a series of projections 42 on its exposed surface.

Many users of beverage decanters of this general type prefer a metal pouring spout over a plastic spout, and for this reason I have provided an alternative handle and spout assembly 18a, shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, which embodies as a unitary part thereof a pouring spout composed of stainless steel or other suitable metal. The handle and spout assembly 18a includes a handle portion 20a and a collar portion 22a which has internal threads 24a and shoulder 26a, the handle and collar portions 20a and 220 being substantially the same as the corresponding handle and collar portions 20 and 22, respectively, of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGURES 1 to 3. The metal pouring spout 28a is attached to the shoulder or flange part 26a of the collar 22a and flares upwardly from the collar. The presently preferred method of attaching the metal pouring spout 28a to the collar 22a is to set the pouring spout in the mold for the collar before the molding of the collar has been completed, and then to mold the shoulder or flange portion 26a of the collar about the pouring spout. It is desirable to have an outwardly turned curl or flange 44 at the bottom of the pouring spout 28a which serves to lock the pouring spout in position in the collar, and which also provides a downwardly facing annular surface of the pouring spout which is engaged directly by the gasket so that the gasket 40 provides a direct seal between the bead or lip 16 of the flask and the pouring spout 28a.

Disassembly of the apparatus for cleaning or replacement of parts is just as easily accomplished as assembly, merely by holding the skirt portion 36 of the split locking sleeve 30 against the body of the flask with one hand, and unscrewing the handle and spout assembly from the locking sleeve with the other hand.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what are conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

I claim:

1. A beverage decanter comprising a glass flask having a constricted neck with an outwardly beaded upper edge, a pouring spout flaring upwardly from said neck, a handle extending generally laterally from said neck and clamp means engaged about said neck and connected to said spout and said handle to attach the spout and the handle to the flask, wherein the improvement comprises an externally threated split sleeve forming an inner portion of said clamp means engaged about said neck of the flask under the bead, and an internally threaded collar forming an outer portion of said clamp means and having said pouring spout and handle connected thereto, said collar being threadedly engaged over said locking sleeve to lock the locking sleeve to the neck of the flask and to effect attachment of the pouring spout and handle to the flask, and said split sleeve having an integral downwardly flaring skirt portion which overlays the body of the flask immediately below the neck, said skirt portion providing gripping means for holding the split sleeve against rotation when said collar is rotated relative thereto for coupling and uncoupling.

2. A beverage decanter as defined in claim 1, wherein said skirt portion of the split sleeve has an irregular exposed surface to facilitate holding of said locking sleeve against rotation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,101 12/1934 Scribner 222568 2,105,051 1/1938 Myers 222568 XR 2,312,380 3/1943 Bernhardt 222475 XR 2,501,636 3/1950 Smith 222568 XR 3,114,484 12/1963 Serio 222566 XR 3,168,226 2/1965 Underwood et al. 222568 XR 3,287,032 11/1966 Kraybill 285-356 WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner. 

